Marine protected areas in the southern south‐west Atlantic: Insights from marine top predator communities

DELLABIANCA, NATALIA A.; TORRES, MÓNICA A.; ORDOÑEZ, CONSTANZA; FIORAMONTI, NICOLÁS; RAYA REY, ANDREA

AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Año: 2023

1052-7613

1. The marine ecosystem provides numerous goods and services, dampens theimpacts of floods and storms, and provides climate control, through the regulationof carbon fluxes, nutrient cycling, and the bioremediation of human waste andtourism. However, the ocean is vulnerable to anthropogenic threats and has beenseverely altered by humans.2. Seabirds and marine mammals are long lived, highly mobile, easily identifiable, andoccupy the upper levels of trophic webs. These ecological features make themsuitable as sentinels of the marine ecosystem.3. Sighting data collected during eight oceanographic surveys were analysed todescribe and compare the biodiversity of the communities of top predatorswithin the marine protected areas (MPAs) of Namuncurá/Burdwood Bank Iand II and the surrounding areas in two contrasting seasons (summer andwinter). Data were grouped into six zones based on depth and geographicposition.4. Twenty-five species of seabirds and 13 species of marine mammals wererecorded in 113 days of surveys between 2014 and 2018. Top predatorcommunity composition varied seasonally in the different zones.5. A suite of indicator species was identified according to their specificity andfidelity to a particular zone. Most of the species identified as potentially usefulindicators differed between summer and winter, highlighting the importance ofconducting systematic surveys in both periods.6. The MPAs Namuncurá/Burdwood Bank I and II are key areas for top predatorcommunities in the region, mainly in summer when the number and abundance ofspecies increase. However, the waters around Isla de los Estados and the channelbetween Isla de los Estados and Burdwood Bank were also identified as a relevanthabitat for many species. This knowledge should be included to create a regionalnetwork of areas under special management considerations that connect theestablished MPAs with other key pelagic and coastal areas (as found in this study)for the conservation of subantarctic marine megafauna.